By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A former Narre Warren fish-and-chip shop worker has been accused of the historical sexual abuse of an 8-year-old girl through to her early teens.
The sexual assaults, allegedly performed in a caravan in a residential backyard, date from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard on 15 October.
The accused man – now in his late forties – is contesting the multiple charges of indecently assaulting a child.
He had been aged between 17-24 years at the time of the alleged abuse.
At the contest mention, magistrate Jack Vandersteen said the allegations were too serious to be heard in the Magistrates’ Court.
He noted the “protracted” six year span of the alleged abuse, the multiple offences as well as the ages of the victim and the accused and “mode” of the relationship.
Mr Vandersteen said he was not certain that a magistrates’ court could impose an adequate sentence, if the man was found guilty.
He questioned why prosecutors hadn’t laid more serious charges such as sexually penetrating a child.
“I’ll be having that conversation with the OPP (the Office of Public Prosecutions”.
The accused man was ordered to appear at a filing hearing, ahead of the case being heard at the County Court of Victoria.
He will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 25 October.
